Objective: For child protective services (CPS) youth who may have experienced more than one form of maltreatment, the unique contribution of emotional abuse may be over-looked when other forms are more salient and more clearly outside of accepted social norms for parenting. This study considers the unique predictive value of childhood emotional…

Relatively little is known about how adolescents overcome being suicidal. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of adolescents' perceptions of the role of attachment relationships in the process of overcoming suicidality. Forty-one female and nine male adolescents, previously suicidal between the ages of 13 and 19, were…

This paper considers how issues of adolescent development might be brought into conversation with dilemmas in sex education. Here, sex education is larger than information, affirmation or prohibition. In its address to the most intimate aspects of life--love, loss, vulnerability, power, friendship, aggression--sex education is necessarily…

This study was designed to identify predictors of relationship outcomes among 179 young (ages 14-24) coparenting couples during the transition to parenthood, with a particular focus on interpersonal process and psychopathology. Findings indicated that couples identified as hostile during the prenatal assessment were more likely to report…

We identify and discuss mothers' early strategies to recruit nonresidential biological fathers, intimate partners, male family members and friends, and paternal kin to support the needs of young children in low-income families. Using the concept of kinscription and longitudinal ethnographic data on 149 African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic…

Much research has attempted to understand the short-term effects of divorce, and it has shown overall harmful effects during childhood. The long-range implications, or effects in adulthood, have largely been ignored. This correlational study sought to understand the long-term effects of divorce by identifying interpersonal traits, intimacy, and…

A two-part pilot study investigated and categorized the roles verbal and nonverbal communication play in the initiation of sexual intercourse. The study also explored the manner in which partners accept or reject sexual overtures, the contexts and antecedents of sexual initiation, and the changes in sexual behavior which occur as a consequence of…

Lee's Lovestyles Questionnaire was completed in terms of past or present romantic relationship by 105 female and 44 male undergraduates to determine its factorial validity. First four orthogonal factors extracted did not reflect Lee's lovestyles but seemed to characterize satisfaction, openness, importance, and physical intimacy of relationship.…

Compares a group of familial and non-familial child sex offenders on a number of relationship dimensions thought to be important in explaining offending. No statistically significant differences were found between these groups on measures of general empathy, intimacy and loneliness, although non-familial offenders were found to have higher levels…

Results from 174 elderly dependent mothers and their caregiving daughters revealed that most believed daughters were caregiving primarily for discretionary rather than obligatory reasons. Women who felt their daughters' motives were not highly discretionary reported lower intimacy in their relationships and said they had received care for more…

Explored attitudes held by elderly women (n=96) towards female counselors when analyzing vignettes of a more intimate or less intimate nature. Results indicated that older counselors were preferred when discussing less intimate concerns, whereas younger counselors were preferred when discussing more intimate problems. (Author/BHK)

Examined differential impact of premarital relationship dimensions on sexual expression among 54 monogamously dating adolescent couples. Couples retrospectively responded to measures of love, conflict, maintenance behaviors, ambivalence, relationship satisfaction, and sexual intimacy for four stages of dating. Found conflict played major role in…

Examined extent to which developmental theories of Erikson, Chickering, and Gilligan explain sex differences in autonomy and intimacy development in college students. Results from 441 college students suggest that both Gilligan's and Chickering's theories contribute to understanding of autonomy and intimacy development. Intimacy was strongest…

Investigated gender differences in extent to which individuals are altruistically other-oriented in their intimate heterosexual relationships. Data from married and single college students suggest that men are more altruistically other-oriented toward their partners than are women. Altruistic other-orientation appeared to be encouraged by…

Presents model of marital interactions based on nature of fit between each spouse's belief systems, particularly those related to fears inherent in intimacy. Proposes that such interactions can be belief-confirming, lead to alienation, conflict, or unhappiness; or belief-disconfirming, leading to intimacy, successful conflict resolution, and…